A FORMER Labour leader of Worcester City Council and a former Parliamentary candidate have both joined the Green Party.

Former Labour leader of the city council and party chairman David Barlow has joined the Green Party as has former Worcester Labour Party chairman and councillor, Peter Nielsen.

Mr Barlow led the city council in 2000 and terminated his Labour membership in 2011 after 30 years of being a member of the party. Mr Barlow said: “The Green Party offers exactly the kind of credible, progressive policies which I have always supported and from which the Labour Party has drifted away.”

Peter Nielsen said: "The Green Party has the ethical and moral dimension that has been lost in our traditional political parties, in particular the Labour Party. The Green Party sees environmental sustainability and social justice as inseparable. It is now 40 years old, and has matured into an impressive and credible political organisation that I am happy to join and in which I feel completely at home."

David Barlow was a member of Worcester City Council from 1985-2004. In addition to being leader of the council, he chaired several committees, including Environmental Health, Community Services, Policy & Resources and Licensing. He was also a County Councillor (Hereford & Worcestershire), 1993-'97, where he chaired Personnel. Throughout, he had been much involved in numerous outside bodies and in local government associations regionally and nationally. After a first career in industry, he taught economics and business studies in local colleges.

Peter Nielsen served as a Worcester city councillor, 1980-81 and county councillor (Herefordshire & Worcestershire), 1977-82. He was chairman of Worcester Labour Party, 1973-76 and chairman of North Wards Labour Party, Worcester, 1999-2003. He has been a Parliamentary Candidate three times for Labour (1979, 1983, 1987) and once as an Independent (2010). He is a retired project manager with a past career in IT, teaching and engineering.